Day Party is a brand-spanking-new arts festival launching April 25 on the south side of downtown Iowa City. Spring in town has long been associated with Mission Creek, which in 2025 celebrated its 12th (and final) year as a multi-day festival. The first thing that strikes one about Day Party is that it packs an […]
Eastern Iowa
Posted inBook Reviews
Fully Booked at ICPL: New DC Comics absolutely worth your time
DC Comics’ Absolute titles are reimagined and radical new takes on their most popular heroes, and have genuinely got me excited about reading comics again. The set-up is fascinating: The characters of the Absolute universe are at a disadvantage, because this world bends towards darkness and evil. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman were the first […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
A new burlesque festival honors Davenport’s history as ‘the wickedest city in America’
Local burlesque performers hope to throw the biggest burlesque festival the Quad Cities has ever seen with their Wickedest City Burlesque and Variety Festival, happening April 16-20 across various venues in the Q.C. area. Highlights include The Wickedest Performer competition at the Adler Theatre, a Fandom Showcase at the Circa ’21 Speakeasy and the Grand […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Everyone and their dog can enjoy a free bike ride thanks to this Johnson County nonprofit
There’s nothing like the feeling of freedom when riding a bicycle, attached to the earth only by a couple of spinning tires, the road spooling out in front of you, the wind in your hair. But for some people, the delight of riding a bike is just a distant memory. Limited mobility, injuries, or the […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: ‘Dishonorable Discharge’ put upcycled utility garments, odes to protests on the 237 runway
The peak of last Saturday’s Dishonorable Discharge, the Basement Collective show at Cedar Rapids’ Eastern Iowa Arts Academy, came halfway through. Poet Henry Morray, outfitted in a heavy camo jacket with an upside-down flag painted on the back, wheeled in a frenzied goosestep up and down the runway, barking the Rudyard Kipling poem “Boots” through a squawking megaphone.
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Exactly what asylum law is meant to stop’: ICE again seizes Bolivian man ordered released in January, plans to deport him to Africa
Three months after a federal judge ordered ICE to release José Yugar-Cruz from Muscatine County Jail, ICE has detained the 36-year-old asylum seeker from Bolivia again. ICE has not accused Yugar-Cruz, who has no criminal record, of violating the terms of his release or any other infractions. ICE plans to deport him to the Democratic […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: Doily decals, graffitied luggage and nods to ‘Cabaret’ kicked off 237 Fashion Month with flounce
Last Saturday, Cedar Rapids’ 237 Collective kicked off Ephemeral, the first show of 237 Fashion Month, to a sold-out crowd of over 100 fashion appreciators in every vibe you could imagine — Bushwick babes rubbing shoulders with suited men with piratical earrings, Gaultier-adjacent bodysuits next to off-duty vampires. Seven local designers shared their visions in […]
Posted inCommunity/News
For over half a century, the Aerohawks have pushed their hobby to new heights — and entertained Iowa City Landfill patrons
If you jump on Melrose Avenue and drive west out of Iowa City, you’ll pass Chatham Oaks, the historic Poor Farm and the National Reserve base. The speed limit is 35 mph, but I’ve never seen anybody go less than 50. You’ll know the dump is coming up when you see huge flocks of birds […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: The Branford Marsalis Quartet treated the Englert audience to a night in New Orleans for Stop/Time Festival
Taking the stage, he adjusted his saxophone neck strap, walked over to the microphone and in a low, disarming voice said, “Hello, Iowa.” The crowd stood up and welcomed the Branford Marsalis Quartet to a sold-out Englert Theatre on Saturday night. The concert was one of the many events held across Iowa City on April […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: Stop/Time Festival unfurled an array of exuberant, vulnerable and genre-fluid performances in Iowa City
On April 3 and 4, Hancher Auditorium held its inaugural Stop/Time Festival, a multi-disciplinary, multi-venue fest spread throughout the University of Iowa campus and downtown Iowa City. “There’s a lot of stuff we know that’s cool that just doesn’t get on as many stages,” festival organizer Andre Perry said in an interview with Little Village […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
A quick guide to excellent arts venues in central and eastern Iowa
Good venues can serve as essential third spaces for neighbors to come together and witness, celebrate and commiserate. They’re also easy to take for granted. Each time you buy a ticket and attend a performance, you’re helping to increase the viability of your favorite spaces and keep Iowa’s arts economy strong. These top-notch spots are […]
Posted inCommunity/News
UI professor and Iowa City local for 25 years sues Trump administration for canceling his, his wife’s citizenship oaths
“Twenty-six years ago, I touched down at Eastern Iowa Airport,” Dr. Sunday Goshit told the people gathered on the Ped Mall Friday morning. Goshit, an adjunct assistant professor of International Studies at the University of Iowa and an instructor of Intercultural Competence at Kirkwood Community College, recalled how he arrived in Iowa “with a suitcase […]
